Law enforcement plays a necessary and critical role in Los Angeles, and LAPD helicopters are important and necessary; HOWEVER, it is NOT necessary that they buzz neighborhoods so low, or that they choose flight paths over the most populated areas in the city. The high-decibel noise pollution is enough to make peaceful residents feel as if they're in a war zone, often during hours which people are trying to sleep before going to work the next day. The FAA has regulations for flight-floor levels set for metropolitan helicopters, but they are largely unobserved in Los Angeles by the LAPD. Also, there are NO REGULATIONS ADDRESSING NOISE POLLUTION by helicopters, and noise pollution has been shown in multiple studies to affect the health and well being and stress levels of both humans and animals adversely.
It would be simple enough for regulations to be created governing helicopter noise pollution, to enforce the flight-floor regulations in Los Angeles more diligently, and to simply regulate which flight paths the LAPD helicopters can patrol along under NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Fly higher, or along freeways or heavily trafficked boulevards or business districts, as opposed to flying low and directly over the homes of tax paying residents.
My Friend,
If you've ever suffered a sleepless night, or have had your peaceful evening dinner interrupted by a police helicopter flying what must CERTAINLY be too low above your neighborhood, or youhave friends or family to whom this frequently happens, please sign our petition to decrease LAPD police helicopter noise pollution by asking the FAA to more strictly enforce the flight-floor level in the Los Angeles basin, and to develop regulations regarding noise pollution generated by helicopters. Also, to chart flight paths more consistent with business and high-traffic routes in Los Angeles, as opposed to the perhaps more direct, but much more troublesome paths directly above largely middle-class-to-low-income residents while avoiding wealthier neighborhoods altogether out of the same consideration we desire for other L.A. residents.
